Amusement ride car



Jan. 23, 1951 N. BARTLETT AMUSEMENT RIDE CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Deo. 22, 1945 .NEN

JNVENTOR. /Vorm cm Bard@ z Z Jan. 23, 1951 N. BARTLl-:TT 2,539,360

AMUSEMENT RIDE CAR Filed Dec. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @I .llflmmkm mm n@ @u Nm 9v www j l )l 1 mt m m 1 o o l mn 0 l c@ ma w nv EU #da @n ww on @n ww @w B nlm |l||1 wH O m Qn vw uw uw a, m @NNW a Y o mh LQ, @n N B EN Mn o l @In o o .NN m N. .N

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Patented Jan. 23, 1951 UNITED STAT Es PATENT o Fries AMUSEMENT RIDE CAR Norman Bartlett, "North Tonawanda, 1N. Y., as-

.signor of one-half ito `Marjorie Bartlett, North Tonawanda, N.iY.

Application December 22, 1945,1`Seria1`No. .636,573

(Cl. .10x1-+63) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to amusement apparatus and particularly to novel passenger `carrying cars.

The passenger cars of the present invention are self-steeringand are intended primarily -ior use 'with lan amusement ride runwayor trackway of the general kind shown in my prior Patent No. 2,081,261 dated May 25, 1937. The

considerably from that shown in the above men The only requirement is that the cross-sectional contour -of the runway be such -asto cooperate with 'the 'cars of the present invention to produce self-steering operation vin such `manner as to prevent any car froml buckling out oi Aa line of cars or otherwise deviating from the desired course.

'The car shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing and described in detail in the following description is intended to be gravity propelled, but the principles of the present invention would apply equally to cars `powered for automotive operation or propelled or accelerated by any other means.

According to the present invention a car is 7provided which has movable ground wheels so mounted and .arranged that they all .automatically .retain road contact regardless o'f the 'tortuosity of the curved banked .surface on which 4the .caris intended to move, generally A.as one of a train of like cars.

vAmusement .rides generally are to some extent portable and temporary in their erection .sothatlightness of construction is an important For this reason .the L.load .limits consideration. per wheel of oars operating thereon have certain limitations. By virtue of the present invention a car is provided which has nearly double the load capacity of cars heretofore con-v vtemplated for rides of this character without -formandarrangement ofthe runway may vary .manner Fig. 12 is a ftop vplan `view thereof;

Fig. .'3 is afbottom plan view thereof; :and

Fig. 411s a transverse cross-sectional -view on the line 4 4 of Fig. -1.

n the lseveral gures of the drawings, like characters of reference -denote like -parts vand the numerals I0 and II generally designate, respectively, front `and rear car body sections which are pivoted 'jointly upon a transverse axis by means 'of pivot pins I3, whereby the front and rear sections may pivot relative to each other in a longitudinal vertical plane. The-car body sections I0 and II *have floor portions I5 `and `II respectively, and pivot pins I3 are preferably located close to the floor portions I5 'and IB, as "shown in Fig. 1, whereby the continuity of the floor I5, I6 is notfsubstantially interrupted ywhen the car sections pivot relative to each other.

The'wheel suspension system of the lcar shown in the drawings comprises an intermediate truck assembly designated generally I8 in Figs. 1 and `3 `and associated with the front end of the rear car portion II. A rear truck assembly lis desiginate'd :generally I9 and is associated with the rear part `of rear car portion II land a front vtruck designated generally 2D is associated with the front `endof iront Ycar portion Ill.

The intermediate truck assembly "comprises a cross member 23 xed to the underside of the .rear `car vportion II and having lateral pairs of 'bearing 'brackets 24 for 'supporting longitudinally extending lateral arms 26. Each arm 26 has a front and rear caster bracket 21, each having a caster wheel 28. The lateral arms 26 are thus `free to voscillate on the axes of bearing brackets 24 Aindividually to vsuit variations in the contour of the runway over which .the car is operating,

The caster frames 21 and the wheels 28, as well as those to be described later, all are mounted with an inverse camber, as shown best in Fig. '4. This mounting .positions the wheels in such that they engage against the curved runway upon which 'they travel.

Adjacent .each caster bracket and wheel assembly .each of the arms 2B has an inwardly extending bracket 3B and extension coil springs 3l extend 'from the inner end of each bracket to Aanchoring formations 32 provided upon the caster'brackets 21. The springs 3l stabilize the caster wheels 28 and .tend to retain them in .a

.straight longitudinal position, thuscontributing to the desired self-steering arrangement of 'fthe caster wheels.

perpendicularly The front truck assembly 28 comprises a cross bar or frame which has a central bearing 36 having a longitudinal axis. A front draw bar 38 has a clevis 40 at its rear end for pivotal engagement with the intermediate cross member 23 as at 4i and a pair of bearing brackets 43 and 44 are fixed to the under side of front car portion l0. Draw bar 38 is thus free to move endwise in bearings 43 and 44 upon relative oscilla-V tion of the car portions about axis I3 Without disturbing the pivotal support of front cross member 35'. Cross member 35 has caster brackets 48 at opposite sides thereof for supporting caster wheels 49. Each of the caster brackets 48 has a stabilizing spring arrangement 50 similar to that previously described.

The rear truck assembly I9 includes a pair of axially spaced bearing brackets and 56, xed

to the under side of car portion l I, with a draw bar 51 extending therethrough longitudinally of the car. A collar and nut arrangement (il) at the front end of draw bar El connes a compression coil spring Si and a similar spring 312 is retained at the rear end of draw bar 5l by an eye member 64 which cooperates with a clevis 65 and pin 36 associated with the front draw bar 38 of a rearwardly adjacent car.

A pivoted cross member 'I9 is mounted for oscillation on draw bar 51 between the bearing brackets 55 and 56 and its opposite ends comprise journals for receiving bearings-*Elend l2 formed medially of a pair of longitudinally extending frame members 'i3 and lli, respectively. The frame members T3 and 'i4 have caster brackets 'I6 adjacent their front and rear ends, the caster brackets being provided with caster wheels 'il and stabilizing spring arrangements '23, again similar to the first-described stabilizing spring arrangement.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the pair of rear wheels T at one side of the car may raise and lower freely as a unit relative to the pair of rear wheels 'l1 at the other side 01" the car by oscillation of cross member '50. Also, the fore and aft rear wheels 'il at either side of the car may raise and lower freely relative to each other by oscillation of their longitudinal frame members about their medial bearings. This insures full road contact of all wheels despite variation in the contour of the curved runway on which the car is operating. Further, the load on rear truck assembly i9 is uniformly distributed over the `lour wheels l?.

The stabilizing springs 53, 3i and 'E3 are provided to insure self-steering and self-centering operation of one car or a train of cars operating over a curved or trough-like runway and to prevent the cars of a train from buckling or whipping out of line. The stabilizing springs are arranged to have initial tension and the degree of initial tension of the springs increases progressively irom iront to rear. That is, the springs 3| of the intermediate truck assembly I8 have greater initial tension than the springs 58 of front truck assembly 2E. Also, the springs i8 of rear truck assembly i9 have greater initial tension than the springs 3i of intermediate truck assembly I8.

When a train of cars side slips from a banked turn these springs permit all cars to slip sidewise at the same time insuring that each car will maintain its alignment in the train. The tension of these springs also tends to keep the cars at the rear of the train on a steady course and overcomes the tendency to whip from side to side.

The rear car portion Il includes sides and a rear wall portion 8| which comprises a seat back for cooperation with a seat bottom 82. A forwardly extending slightly lower seat portion 84 provides a seat arrangement to accommodate two passengers in such manner that the occupant of seat bottom 82 may straddle the occupant of seat portion 8fl. It will be noted that the rear seat arrangement just described is located in such manner that the load borne therebs7 is disposed directly over the rear truck assembly I9.

Front car portion l0 likewise includes sides, designated 88, and a seat back 89 forms the medial portion of the rear closure of front car portion l. At each side of seat back 83 a rearwardly opening foot well 90 completes the rear closure of front car portion Il) and the occupants of the rear car portion Il may place their feet within the pair of foot Wells 80. Seat back 89 cooperates with a seat bottom 92 and a lower forwardly extending seat bottom 84 is provided as in the case of the rear seat arrangement previously described.

The front car portion has an upwardly curving front wall 96 and a narrower central curving projecting portion 9'( simulating a toboggan front and providing further foot space.

Each of the car portions is provided with lateral hand rails for the passengers. In the case of rear car portion li rigid hand rails |08 are provided which may be rigidly secured to the opposite side walls 36 in any desired manner. For the front car portion IB, hand rails lill are pivoted at their rear ends to the iront portions of the side walls 88 of the rear car portions, as at |82. Rails ll are tubular and their front ends receive plungers 183 which have inward lateral projections 04 extending through longitudinal slots (not shown) in the walls of tubular rails HH, for pivotal engagement With bearing projections m6 formed or otherwise provided upon front wall 9S. Compression coil springs I8? extending between plungers 403 and the rear ends of rails mi yieldably resist undue upward pivotal movement of front car portion I8 about pivotal connection i3.

While stabilizing spring assemblies 58, 3l and 78 have been described in conjunction with the several truck assemblies, the multi-wheel arrangement shown and described herein is fully operative if the stabilizing spring assemblies be omitted entirely. With less uniform wheel support, as in prior cars of the present type, the stabilizing springs were essential to satisfactory operation. With the present car their use is purely optional.

What is claimed is:

l. An amusement ride car comprising front and rear body members connected in end to end relation for relative pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal transverse axis, said front body member having a pair of opposite caster wheels, said rear body member having a caster truck adjacent each end thereof, the truck at the forward end of said rear body member comprising a pair of lateral longitudinali# extending arms each pivoted medially to said rear body member for pivotal movement in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon which the car moves and having a iront and rear caster wheel, the truck at the rear end of said rear body member comprising a transverse support pivoted for oscillation about a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis, and a pair o1 lateral longitudinal arms pivoted medially to opposite ends of said support for pivotal movement relative thereto in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon which the ear moves, each of said last mentioned arms having a front and a rear caster wheel.

2. An amusement ride oar having a plurality of longitudinally spaced wheel supports, one or said supports comprising a transverse arm pivoted for oscillation about a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis and a pair of lateral longitudinal arms pivoted medially to opposite ends of said transverse arm for pivotal movement relative thereto in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon which the car moves, each of said lateral longitudinal arms having a front and a rear caster wheel.

3. An amusement ride car comprising articulated front and rear body members, said front body member having a pair of opposite caster wheels, said rear body member having a caster truck adjacent each end thereof, the truck at the forward end of said rear body member comprising a pair of lateral longitudinally extending arms each pivoted medially to said rear body member for pivotal movement in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon which the oar moves and having a front and a rear caster wheel, the truck at the rear end of said rear body member comprising a transverse support pivoted for oscillation about a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis, and a pair of lateral longitudinal arms pivoted medially to opposite ends of said support for pivotal movement relative thereto in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon which the car moves, each of said last mentioned arms having a iront and a rear easter wheel.

4. An amusement ride car comprising a body member having a caster truck adjacent each end thereof, the truck at, the forward end comprising a pair of lateral longitudinally extending arms each pivoted medially to said body member for pivotal movement in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon whichfthe car moves and having a front and a rear caster wheel, the truck at the rear end of said other member comprising a transverse support pivoted for oscillation about a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis, a pair of lateral longitudinal arms pivoted medially to opposite ends of said support for pivotal movement relative thereto in a plane substantially normal to the surface upon which the car moves, each of said last mentioned arms having a front and a rear caster wheel.

NORMAN BARTLETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,814,969 Schmeck July 14, 1931 1,839,054 Schmeck Dec. 29, 1931 1,959,944 Bartlett May 22, 1934 2,081,261 Bartlett May 25, 1937 

